The present invention relates generally to the field of hand-held power tools such as rotary cutting tools. More particularly, the present invention relates to hand-held power tools that include storage drawers selectively securable to the housing of such power tools.
It is known to provide storage for a variety of attachments for power tools such as drilling or rotary cutting tools. It is further known to incorporate such storage devices within the tool housing. Such known storage compartments do not realize certain advantageous features and/or combinations of features as described herein.
Hand-held power tools generally include a housing and an electric motor contained within the housing. The motor is configured to move a tool bit or other cutting accessory at high speeds to form cuts in a workpiece (e.g., a piece of wood, drywall, tile, etc.). For example, a hand-held rotary cutting tool such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,813,805 and 6,443,675 to Kopras et al. (the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety) is configured to rotate a helical or spiral cutting tool bit that includes a sharp cutting edge wrapped in a helix around the longitudinal axis of the bit. According to this example, the tool is configured to allow the formation of cuts in a workpiece by moving the tool in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of rotation of the bit (i.e., the tool is arranged normal to the workpiece surface and moved parallel to the surface of the workpiece to allow the edges of the bit to remove material from the workpiece).
Hand-held rotary cutting tools utilize a motor to rotate a tool bit at variable speeds. The motor drives a motor shaft which extends from one end of a motor housing along the central longitudinal axis thereof. A mechanical structure, such as a conventional drill chuck or a collet system, is mounted on the end of the motor shaft outside of the motor housing for attaching tool bits and other accessories or attachments to the motor shaft. Some power tools include integrated storage compartments for the storage of bits and accessories used with the tool.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a storage compartment for a hand-held tool that has a more ergonomically suitable design than conventional compartments and provides a relatively simple locking mechanism, hence requiring less assembly parts and reduced manufacturing resources.